Echo the above, very pleased as he has become an important part of the team. Still plenty of development left in him too. We have a good bunch of young players who could become great together.

On the Delaney rumour, I wouldn’t be against it. We need a couple of players like him and Webster for when we come up against tactics like Workington threw at us on Sunday. Uncompromising and tough. Teams would think twice about thinking they can just bully us.

If you had asked me half way through the season regarding Wood id have probably said no thanks but fair play to him hes got better and better as the season has gone on.
Think the switch to starting at 13 has done him the world of good. Im extremely pleased we have signed him for next year and hope he continues to improve.

Jy next please!

I'm glad we've got Wood signed up. A one year deal also means that he needs to keep improving to get himself a new deal for 2020.

Would love it if the club announced we'd signed Jy for next year too.

Plus we could do with some additional steel in the pack, just so that we don't have guys like Crossley doing 60 minutes a match

Re: Delaney, and apologies if this has been mentioned. He's quoted in League Express saying he wants to go to a team that are wanting to challenge, either for Super League or whatever, and where he'll add some much needed experience. I appreciate that may be some other clubs too, but that does scream Bradford, especially considering there have been comments all year on here about how the squad was lacking some experience on many occasion.

I think we have a fantastic set of backs for the championship, maybe an addition or two needed for competition. (Assuming we will sign Jy based on his interview and Kears comments)

We have the basis of a good pack. If Crossley isn’t signed up for next year then that needs to be our top priority - he’s the clear leader in the pack.

I’d be happy with a pack of:

Bustin
New hooker (hopefully)
Crossley
Minchella
?
Wood

Flanagan
Peltier
Green
?

The question marks depend on Garside/Laithwaite staying. Delaney would be a welcome addition in my opinion.

Magrin and Kirk to provide competition in the props, although I am pleased with Kirks improvement and interested to see if he improves further in the championship.

If Bustin gets fully fit and finds the form he showed in our early games then he should go well in the championship.

Hooker is one area that concerns me. Flanagan gives us great impact from the bench. Hallas distribution not good enough for championship so his role is to provide competition. Lilley has done well but not sure he has the physicality to play there in the championship.

Milton is signed up for next year IIRC. Haven’t seen enough of him due to injury but the games he has played haven’t been convincing.

Anyone else get the impression Crossley won't be with us next year? Just a couple of comments I've picked up on, might be reading more into it but....

Attempting a goal kick in the last game of the season is NEVER a good sign.

I've also picked up a couple of things said in interviews. I can't remember specifically but it certainly made me think.

Hope not. That would be a big loss.

Crossley's contract runs out this year so I hope we're keeping him. He's been our main pack leader.

Scott Moore is out and about now apparently. I wonder if he's wanting to get back on the field.

If we sign Delaney and drop Storton as a result then I just give up, I really do.

Think we need to bring Storton on carefully, he's still raw and got lots to learn. Horses for courses. We learnt what happens when you put too many young lads in at once last year.

We do need a couple of experienced championship forwards. There will be few teams aiming to bully us again and while a few of our lads have grown up in the last year we did still get drawn in versus Workington and we'll come up against better sides than them next year.

Absolutely agree with that. Youngsters should be brought on at their own pace and they're not all Sam Burgesses. What ever time they need to develop, sink or swim will never be the right way to develop players. Championship RL is a game of hard knocks with little protection for young players, since the referees are, similarly to league 1, mostly not very experienced themselves.

Agree wth Bullseye. Storton's also had a horror time with injuries throughout his time in the academy. He's certainly done enough to be in the starting 17 IMO Delaneys a decent signing on a PT deal. I'd be unhappy if he was FT. Rough, tough experienced forward. Won't play every game which will then give an opportunity for a younger player coming through.

I do think we need a hooker. Thought Lilley was outstanding on Sunday, but i'd be doing everything we can to get Brad Dwyer. Hopefully we can profit from Leeds/Toronto clear-out

Agree mate, he has done well so far has Storton and shown enough to say he could go on to have a very good career, but there is also the element of getting the pack ready for the championship. Storton needs to be in and around the 17 for me and with a more experienced pack around him he will be more confident in himself too. Top young player. We will face far bigger and better packs than this year and there has been times we have been on the back foot where our pack hasn't been able to win the battle. Or handle riugh house tactics. Shots like what moi moi did and what Walshaw did to keyes last year will always happen as teams put us on a pedestal to knock off.

That said Kear knows the division well, if we are looking for a mean tough back rower and with the worries of Delaney's fitness I would be looking to tempt Dane Manning to see if he would be interested. One of the best and toughest back rowers in the league

If Chisholm doesn't re-sign we'll definitely need another halfback. The rumoured signing of Wildie seems to make sense if this is the case as he and Lilley can cover both positions. Dwyer would be an excellent signing but I think he's impressed enough at Leeds lately for them to want to keep him. I think Rowan Milnes may figure in the odd game next season too but he's got a full year left in the 19s so might be too early for him.

Manning would be an excellent signing too. Maybe Kear can tempt him over from Batley but I doubt he'll be cheap even part time. Someone that can "dissuade" the sort of tackles you mention from Walshaw/Moi Moi is needed. RL is a tough game and having someone in the side who makes the opposition tread a little warily is always a plus.

I just don't see what Delaney brings, at all.
He's old, he's crocked, he wont be cheap and he's not even a good player! He would be here for no other reason than to top up his pension.

Everyone trying to justify his signing by saying he'd only be on a pay as you play deal are kidding themselves. Nobody signs those kind of contracts. I don't even know if they're viable for salary cap reasons.

It's a live cap now so pay as you play could work in theory but as you say a player would want more security and not what would be a zero hours contract.

Delaney would definitely be part-time. He's been appointed to some sort of backroom (i.e non-playing) role with Leeds Rhinos

It would be like Richie Mathers and that worked out pretty well.... oh wait

Getting the slight feeling you are against signing him Nothus?







I am on the fence personally see both sides of the coin

Hahaha yeah you could say that

It depends on his physical condition. I’m less keen on Delaney than others because the championship is a very physical league, arguably more so than SL. The difference is the speed. Delaney could probably cope with the pace quite easily but the hits would be just as hard and I have doubts whether he’d be able to stand up to them given his recent injury record. He’s a player that plays a style that takes no prisoners and you can’t play that way indefinitely. He might find he hasn’t the appetite for it when some young buck is getting in his face on a cold wet Sunday at Batley and then we could be lumbered with a costly player that’s no better than what we already have. I’d want a very thorough medical before signing him. We do need someone in his mould, albeit less injury plagued.

Christ what a farce that was. I remember him playing quite well at half back at the Summer Bash mind you.

Hadn't Mathers been retired 12 months when we signed him?